LEWISVILLE, Texas Toting more than 17 pounds of bass to the scales Saturday, Kim Bain of Alabaster, Ala., leapfrogged over 19 other pros to win the Womens Bassmaster Tour bass fishing tournament on Lewisville Lake.
The 27-year-old Australian native squeaked past first-day leader Patti Campbell of Waxahachie, Texas, by just 3 ounces. Bains total was 27-11 to Campbells 27-8.
"I cant believe it," said a shocked Bain, who took home $51,000 in cash and merchandise, including a Triton/Mercury boat rig. Saturdays victory was not only her first BASS win, it was also her first WBT event.
Second-day leader Cindy Hill of Smyrna, Tenn., managed just one fish Saturday, for a 26-14 total and third place. Fourth was Christiana Bradley of Bealeton, Va., with 26-12. Jan Heavener of Sherwood, Ark., was fifth with 24-9.
The leaders racked up the most points in the race for 2008 Toyota Womens Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year. Besides a 2009 Toyota Tundra, the AOY will be awarded a berth in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La.
With a day job of writing and hosting radio and TV programming, Bain has been competing in U.S. bass tournaments for several years. She has her sights set on the Classic berth.
"It's been my goal ever since I was a little girl to be in a Bassmaster Classic," she said.
Bain was surprised at her upset win. Her first-day catch was 6-7, good enough for 18th place in the three-day competition on tough, rough, wind-swept Lewisville Lake. On the second day she weighed in just 4-3 and dropped to 20th. Fighting a cold Saturday and feeling slightly discouraged, she said she decided to just survive the day.
"When I caught my first fish, it took the pressure off, so I decided to just cruise around and fish at my own pace," she said. "I did nothing different today than what I had done the past two days."
One of her primary patterns was flipping to pockets of brush about half a mile from the launch site on Lewisville Lake. The rising water helped me there, and I was protected from the wind, she said. She worked Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver plastics, blue and black and watermelon red/black.
She also fished Tower Bay and Stewart Creek, and points with flooded brush in various spots around the lake.
Coming up short by 3 ounces made second-place finisher Campbell recall a bass that broke off after the line wrapped around the shaft of her trolling motor.
"I've thought a lot about that fish," she said. "But these things happen. It could have gone better, but I'm happy with second."
In the co-angler division, Denese Freeman of Lawton, Okla., scored a wire-to-wire victory and her first BASS tournament title. She took home a $25,500 prize package, which included a Skeeter/Yamaha boat rig.
Freemans three-day total of 18 pounds, 10 ounces, trounced the co-angler field even though she brought in only a single fish weighing 1-8 on Saturday, which she figured might be enough.
"I knew I had to catch at least one fish to bump up my weight at least a little bit," said Freeman, who owns a computer graphics business that designs Web sites for professional anglers.
Next stop for the WBT is May 22-24 on Lake Neely Henry in Gadsden, Ala .
2008 Womens Bassmaster Tour Stop 1 4/10-4/12 Lake Lewisville, Lewisville TX. (BOATER) Standings Day 3Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Kim Bain Alabaster, AL 9 27-11 305 $51,000.00 Day 1: 3 06-07 Day 2: 2 04-03 Day 3: 4 17-01 2. Patti Campbell Waxahachie, TX 9 27-08 300 $5,500.00 Day 1: 4 15-12 Day 2: 2 05-08 Day 3: 3 06-04 3. Cindy Hill Smyrna, TN 10 26-14 295 $4,500.00 Day 1: 4 10-07 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 1 01-15 4. Christiana Bradley Bealeton, VA 11 26-12 285 $4,000.00 Day 1: 2 04-01 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 4 09-11 5. Jan Heavener Sherwood, AR 11 24-09 280 $3,500.00 Day 1: 3 07-12 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 3 06-13 6. Lucy Mize Ben Lomond, AR 10 22-00 276 $3,000.00 Day 1: 3 07-02 Day 2: 3 05-13 Day 3: 4 09-01 7. Kathy Womack Trussville, AL 7 19-14 272 $2,500.00 Day 1: 4 09-13 Day 2: 2 07-09 Day 3: 1 02-08 8. Kelley Shepherd Cortez, CO 6 19-11 268 $2,000.00 Day 1: 2 07-06 Day 2: 3 09-09 Day 3: 1 02-12 9. Penny Berryman Hot Springs, AR 10 19-09 264 $1,750.00 Day 1: 3 05-11 Day 2: 4 08-01 Day 3: 3 05-13 10. Juanita Robinson Highlands, TX 8 19-06 260 $1,500.00 Day 1: 3 06-15 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 0 00-00 11. Laura Elkins Amarillo, TX 8 18-09 257 $1,350.00 Day 1: 3 06-09 Day 2: 4 08-09 Day 3: 1 03-07 12. Kat Ealey Moody, AL 7 18-08 254 $1,100.00 Day 1: 3 04-09 Day 2: 2 07-08 Day 3: 2 06-07 13. Sheri Glasgow Muskogee, OK 8 18-06 251 $1,000.00 Day 1: 4 09-08 Day 2: 2 04-04 Day 3: 2 04-10 14. Mary DiVincenti Clinton, LA 6 18-00 248 $975.00 Day 1: 1 05-00 Day 2: 3 08-00 Day 3: 2 05-00 15. Mary Croft Bedford, VA 9 17-02 244 $938.00 Day 1: 5 09-15 Day 2: 2 04-02 Day 3: 2 03-01 15. Judy Wong Many, LA 6 17-02 244 $938.00 Day 1: 4 12-02 Day 2: 1 01-15 Day 3: 1 03-01 17. Pam Martin-Wells Bainbridge, GA 8 16-13 241 $900.00 Day 1: 3 06-09 Day 2: 4 07-07 Day 3: 1 02-13 18. Kathi Hurst Ripley, MS 5 15-15 239 $875.00 Day 1: 3 10-13 Day 2: 2 05-02 Day 3: 0 00-00 19. Debra Petrowski Arlington, TX 7 13-06 237 $850.00 Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 3 06-02 Day 3: 1 01-10 20. Bonnie Johnson Weatherford, TX 5 12-08 235 $825.00 Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 4 10-12 Day 3: 1 01-12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 1 133 332-07 2 4 109 259-14 3 0 37 93-11 ---------------------------------- 5 279 686-00 2008 Womens Bassmaster Tour Stop 1 4/10-4/12 Lake Lewisville, Lewisville TX. (NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Denese Freeman Lawton, OK 6 18-10 315 $25,500.00 Day 1: 4 12-02 Day 2: 1 05-00 Day 3: 1 01-08 2. Debbie Pegoli Loveland, OH 6 14-04 295 $3,000.00 Day 1: 1 03-04 Day 2: 2 04-09 Day 3: 3 06-07 3. Bertha Cavakis Amity, AR 6 13-07 290 $2,500.00 Day 1: 5 10-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 1 02-11 4. Kim Petrowski Arlington, TX 6 12-07 285 $2,000.00 Day 1: 4 08-10 Day 2: 2 03-13 Day 3: 0 00-00 5. Debra Cook Gardendale, AL 4 09-08 280 $1,750.00 Day 1: 1 02-07 Day 2: 2 03-11 Day 3: 1 03-06 6. Elizabeth Sanders Brandon, MS 4 08-15 276 $1,500.00 Day 1: 1 02-06 Day 2: 2 04-14 Day 3: 1 01-11 7. Susan Dameron Chattanooga, TN 3 07-10 272 $1,250.00 Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 2 05-02 Day 3: 1 02-08 8. Patti James Dayton, TX 4 07-06 268 $1,000.00 Day 1: 2 03-08 Day 2: 1 02-02 Day 3: 1 01-12 9. Vicki Henderson Ashdown, AR 2 07-03 264 $900.00 Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 04-13 Day 3: 1 02-06 10. Gail Wood Russellville, AR 3 06-10 260 $825.00 Day 1: 2 04-13 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 1 01-13 11. Tracy Doty Roanoke, TX 3 06-06255.5 $725.00 Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 0 00-00 11. Lesli Lively Palestine, TX 3 06-06255.5 $725.00 Day 1: 1 02-14 Day 2: 2 03-08 Day 3: 0 00-00 13. Norma Ussery Terrell, TX 2 06-00 251 $650.00 Day 1: 1 03-00 Day 2: 1 03-00 Day 3: 0 00-00 14. Monica Altman Angier, NC 3 05-11 248 $600.00 Day 1: 2 04-00 Day 2: 1 01-11 Day 3: 0 00-00 15. Linda Owens Brandon, MS 2 05-10 245 $575.00 Day 1: 1 02-14 Day 2: 1 02-12 Day 3: 0 00-00 16. Kim McGuffey Weatherford, TX 1 05-02 243 $550.00 Day 1: 1 05-02 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 0 00-00 17. Mary Lipka Wentzville, MO 2 05-00 240 $512.00 Day 1: 2 05-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 0 00-00 17. Jada Tidmore Union Grove, AL 2 05-00 240 $512.00 Day 1: 2 05-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 0 00-00 19. Tracy Bailey Ennis, TX 1 04-14 237 $475.00 Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 04-14 Day 3: 0 00-00 20. Lesley Childers Anderson, SC 2 04-13 235 $450.00 Day 1: 1 02-05 Day 2: 1 02-08 Day 3: 0 00-00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 1 59 134-10 2 0 31 77-11 3 0 11 24-02 ---------------------------------- 1 101 236-07